My Pregnancy Essentials

Women don’t often discuss how difficult it is to be pregnant. Probably because we all feel so blessed to be carrying our future bundles of love, but why is there shame in admitting it’s not always rainbows and butterflies? My first 20 weeks of pregnancy brought on IMMENSE nausea. Then for four weeks I felt great. Starting at week 24, I started getting severe pelvic girdle pain. I’m writing this not to complain but rather to share what brought comfort in what to me feels like a pretty uncomfortable time.

When I shared my pelvic pain on insta, you amazing women rushed to tell me, I needed a belly band! As always, I listened to what you said and ordered one right away.

BELLY BAND

Bough this one from amazon because I knew it would get here the quickest, and sure enough, two days later it arrived. I wear it during my walks, exercises (yoga for pelvic pain lol) and at night only if it’s really bad. I try to limit the use as per my OBGYN’s recommendation. Obviously do what’s best for you/what your OB recommends. This band is nice because it’s breathable and it doesn’t itch or anything but the bottom sometimes bends, not sure how to explain it. This may totally be because I’m putting it on wrong LOL. Other than that, no complaints and definitely gives support. It’s $22 so it’s well priced IMO.

BELLY SUPPORT

I discovered Blanqi which makes belly bands, tanks and leggings which all have built in belly support. Mine is arriving this week and I can’t wait to try all three. The reviews are GREAT. You can shop them HERE

PRENATALS

Ritual I really enjoy these anti nausea prenatals. I had a VERY hard time with nausea and taking pills my entire pregnancy and still do and these definitely make it easier. They’re made with great ingredients with no additives/colors/dyes etc.

NASEAU RELIEF

Unisom & B6 : Please speak to your OBGYN but this was a life saver for me for the first 20 weeks. I took unisom at night, a full tablet (make sure its the sleep tablets the other ones are made with a different medicine) and supplemented it with a b6 in the am and night. The combination is said to ease nausea. For me, it definitely did not eliminate it but helped.
Nausea Lollipops – didn’t work for me bc any smell/taste made me want to puke but a lot of women swear by these.
Ginger & Lemon tea- I would boil ginger and lemon and sometimes add honey and sip through the day.

PREGNANCY PILLOW

I ain’t no fool. When one person told me I need a pregnancy pillow, I listened. Then a flock of you told me I needed one and sure enough, I did. This is the one I bought HERE

That being said…lol… I don’t know, I couldn’t get comfortable. I prefer to watch TV/nap in this but can’t actually sleep.

A lot of you ladies recommended THIS ONE and said it was better but I don’t know. I’m a side sleeper and this may be more comfy for me.

BOUNCING/BIRTHING BALL

A birthing ball helps with pelvic girdle pain, back pain and supports stabilizing the core which tends to get more and more difficult as baby grows. This is definitely on my wishlist for the next month.

THE BEST LEGGINGS

THESE LEGGINGS!!! I love them so much I bought two of them. They’re SUPER lightweight and stretchy. I’m normally a 2 and got the 4 just in case and at almost 7 months pregnant i’m confident they’ll take me through to birth. The beginning of my pregnancy I had crazy itchy skin (usually due to increased blood flow/hormones) and this was all I could wear without ripping my skin off. Highly recommend. If you buy anything from this list, make it be these.

PREGNANCY BOOK

Expecting Better I bought and read 3 books within the first month of being pregnant. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. I’m the girl in the front row, with her hand in the air yelling “me, me, me”. I know, annoying. BUT also informed and, fine, a nerd. This was the only one I liked because it was backed by science. It was neither a optimistic or a pessimistic book– it was very realistic. That’s all I wanted from a pregnancy book. What are the risks, what are the chances of those risks and if the risk occurs, what can I do about them. I felt really empowered by the knowledge this book provided me.

BLANKY

I’m 29.5 years old and when I say I NEEDED this blanky, I really did and do. The brand was generous enough to gift it to me, but my husband is constantly stealing it so I’ll likely buy myself one that he’s not allowed to touch. That’s really how I feel.

BRA/UNDERWEAR

The point of this entire post is to find what makes us uncomfortable pregnant ladies more comfortable. From week 10 of being pregnant, every bra and even underwear bothered me. Whether it be because I was swollen, itchy, sensitive or whatever. So whenever I could get away with not wearing any, I wouldn’t. Until Commando was cool enough to send me a pair of their bra and underwear. GAME CHANGERS. Seamless aka no way to scratch you, stretchy and best material ever. Can check out the bra HERE and underwear HERE. I took a medium in both, wouldn’t mind a large.